


The Law of Names

by WednesdaysDaughter



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Mama Stilinski Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-09
Updated: 2013-08-09
Packaged: 2017-12-22 21:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/917980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WednesdaysDaughter/pseuds/WednesdaysDaughter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Dude, I’m your best friend and I don’t even know your first name!” Scott had whined and Stiles rolled his eyes.</p>
<p>“Yeah you do, but you forgot. I told you that day we made a blood oath to be best friends forever. We were ten and hid behind the tree in your back yard so your mom wouldn’t see us with the kitchen knife.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Law of Names

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a post on Tumblr and my insatiable need to know what the hell Stiles' name really is. Thank you Jeff for at least telling us it's Polish, now how about you tell us what it really is?

“Tadeusz.”

“Um, bless you?”

Stiles turned around to face Derek who was sitting on his bed with a list in his hands. The paper had little notes written on both sides and Stiles’ curiosity was instantly peeked.

“That wasn’t a sneeze,” Derek sighed and Stiles could practically feel the exasperation in his tone.

“Well, whatever it was sure wasn’t English either,” Stiles replied.

“Your skills of deduction are astounding.”

Stiles snorted. “Okay Mr. Sarcasm Pants, what exactly is on that list you got there?”

“Names,” Derek informed him.

“And you have a list of names because…?” Stiles trailed off and Derek fidgeted a little under his stare.

“Research.”

Stiles ran a hand through his hair. Getting information out of Derek when he wasn’t in ‘show and tell’ mode was like pulling teeth.  Stiles turned back around and decided to get back to his own research while Derek did whatever it was he was currently doing.

A few minutes passed in silence.

“Lesław.”

When that was met with more silence Derek tried again.

“Dariusz.”

And again.

“Kazimierz”

Stiles could hear Derek whispering to himself, trying to make his lips form the next name correctly and it made him smile to himself.

“Zdzisław,” Derek said and Stiles’ fingers froze over his keyboard.

He could already picture the smug look on Derek’s face before he turned around slowly.

“Derived from the Slavic elements _zdeti:_ to build or create and _slav_ : glory,” Stiles recited. Her eyes shone bright in his memory as she pointed out names he would always having trouble pronouncing on his family tree, half of it anyway.

“It was my grandfather’s name.”

The air of success vanished around Derek and Stiles could see him rethink this little game. Stiles smiled softly at him and shrugged.

“Now, my great-grandfather’s name was quite the mouthful. Even my mom had trouble pronouncing it and don’t even get me started on my great aunt’s middle name.”

Derek’s lips quirked upwards and his eyes darted down to the list.

Stiles watched him debate whether or not to keep going and part of him wanted to hear Derek say his birth name. His dad struggled with it and after years of disuse, Stiles doubted he could even say it correctly. It had flowed off his mother’s tongue with a grace no one else could copy and maybe that was for the best.

His name made Stiles miss her more.

“What else you got?” he asked and sat patiently as Derek read a few more from the list. With each misplaced emphasis and scowl, Stiles’ smile grew until he couldn’t hold back his chuckles.

Derek glared at him, but Stiles could see the softness around his eyes.

He held up his hand to stop Derek’s butchering of the name Włodzimierz.

“Is this about that witch last week? Because I’m fairly confident that the fact that my name is unknown pretty much saved the day.”

Stiles didn’t have to study magic to know that names were very powerful things. The witch that encroached on their territory knew that and tried to take out the pack with a few cleaver words wound around their names like a vine around a tree. The look on her face when she realized Stiles wasn’t actually under her control was pretty funny though and he might have spent the rest of the week soaking in the pride of being the hero.

“If she had known your real name you would’ve been enchanted too,” Lydia huffed and yeah, she had a very good point. It didn’t kill his buzz though. However, the mystery of Stiles’ first name seemed to make the pack a little curious – more curious than normal.

“Dude, I’m your best friend and I don’t even know your first name!” Scott had whined and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Yeah you do, but you forgot. I told you that day we made a blood oath to be best friends forever. We were ten and hid behind the tree in your back yard so your mom wouldn’t see us with the kitchen knife.”

Scott looked like someone had kicked his puppy – multiple times. Stiles took pity on him and threw an arm around his shoulder.

“It’s okay Scott. That was like forever ago and I’m pretty sure I had trouble saying it right. I’m not wounded that you forgot.”

He really wasn’t, but that didn’t stop Scott from pushing his brain to remember. Isaac even recommended an ice bath, but Stiles put a stop to that immediately. His name was not important enough to subject his best friend to hypothermia – even if he would heal.

Apparently Derek hadn’t let it go and it made Stiles’ stomach do these stupid little flips that made him want to crawl into bed and hide forever.

“If it bothers you, I’ll stop.”

Stiles snaps back to the present in time to see Derek fold up the paper and stuff it in his pocket. The thing is Derek will never bring it up again. No matter how curious he may be or how much it irks him that he might never know Stiles’ real name – Derek will drop it if it makes Stiles uncomfortable. Stiles doesn’t want him too though. Sometimes it feels like Derek’s on the cusp of fighting for something, something that makes Stiles squirm and fidget when he feel Derek’s eyes on him, but then Derek will just give up. Stiles doesn’t want him to give up this time.

“No!” he exclaims and flushes when Derek’s eyes shot to his.

“I mean, it’s not like I hear Polish names often anymore. It’s kind of nice – familiar even. You can keep guessing if you want.”

Stiles can feel the blush on his face spread to his ears when Derek starts listing names he had memorized– ones he highlighted because he liked the way they sounded and he liked the way they fit the face of the boy in front of him.

“Brzetysław.”

“Nope,” Stiles shook his head.

Derek slid off the bed and took a step towards Stiles.

“Radosław.”

Step.

“Ambroży.”

Step.

“Gościsław.”

Step.

Derek stopped in front of Stiles and leaned in until Stiles could feel Derek’s breath ghost across his lips. The air was heavy and the anticipation was slowly killing him. Stiles needed Derek to say it, just one more name.

“Strzeżymir.”

Stiles swallowed and his eyes slowly closed when their lips touched, Derek’s hands carefully cradling his face.

“Stiles.”

He grinned into their kiss and tangled his fingers in Derek’s hair. He swallowed foreign sounds and stole the names from Derek’s mouth with a laugh trapped in his throat. When they pulled away, Derek was smirking and Stiles huffed.

“Okay hotshot, so maybe one of those was right.”

“I know. I heard your heart skip.”

Stiles groaned and rested his forehead on Derek’s. He could feel the vibrations from Derek’s soft laugh and he couldn’t fight the joy that slowly unfurled in his chest. Then an idea struck him. Pulling away, Stiles asked with a sly grin on his face, “Want to try and guess my middle name?”

**Author's Note:**

> So maybe I really like one of the names listed in this fic more than the others, but there's no guarantee any of them are the name Jeff has locked away in his head. I had a lot of fun looking up Polish names and listening to their pronunciation as well as looking up the meaning to some of them. Hopefully - one day - we will get answers and find out what the first name of EACH Stilinski is.


End file.
